First Impressions
by caiteelove
Summary: All Remus Lupin wanted to do on his first ever trip on the Hogwarts Express, was find somewhere quiet to read. He didn't count on being found by Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. A Marauders first-meeting story.


**A/N: **This is the first of a bunch of drabbles I wrote based on the requests of people on tumblr. If you'd like to request one, the link to my tumblr is on my profile :)  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>J.K. Rowling is God.

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><p>Remus Lupin had just found an empty compartment, settled himself into the corner and opened his book, when the door burst open.<p>

A boy was standing in the doorway. Dark hair, dark eyes and a handsome grin, he was tall for the age his face suggested and he stood with the kind of confidence that hinted he knew, very well, just how good looking he was.

He scanned the compartment, his eyes coming to rest on Remus for all of two seconds, before he stowed away his trunk and flopped down opposite him.

"Yup, this'll do."

Remus blinked at him, unsure what to say to this unwanted disturber of peace. Fortunately, his words were chosen for him.

"So what's your name then?" he asked.

"Remus Lupin," he replied softly.

"I'm Siri—"

"Finally. I thought I was going to have to sit with a group of odd-looking Ravenclaw girls. You two look alright."

A second unwanted disturber of peace had entered the compartment and Remus was beginning to doubt he was going to get anywhere with his book.

The new boy wore glasses and had hair that looked like it had never seen a comb, but he exuded the same sort of arrogance as the other boy. He too stowed away his trunk, flopping down next to Remus.

"I'm James. James Potter. You guys are first years too then?" he guessed.

"Yup," the first boy said. "I'm Sirius Black," he continued, saying his last name rather fast. "That's Remus Lupin."

"You're a Black? That's too bad, you seem alright," James said. Remus wondered how James could have judged Sirius much at all since they only just met, but kept quiet. He supposed normal eleven-year-old boys connected on some level he didn't quite get.

"I am alright! I'm not like the rest of my family," Sirius agued, screwing his nose up.

"Maybe, but you'll probably end up in Slytherin right? I don't think you can avoid pureblood elitism if you spend too much time there."

"Ugh, I hope not. I think I'd rather be in Gryffindor, just to annoy my mum."

Remus, who seemed to be invisible to the two boys, couldn't help but be impressed by James's use, and Sirius's understanding of, the words "pureblood elitism" and began to think that maybe these two weren't so bad.

"What about you? Ravenclaw I'd assume, you seem attached to that bloody book."

And then again …

Remus looked over at Sirius, but he didn't get a chance to answer. For the third time since the train left the platform, the compartment door burst open.

"Can I hide in here?" A short boy with a round tummy and slightly bucked teeth was staring at them, looking frightened.

"Sure. What from?" James asked casually.

"Some Slytherin fifth years, they're going around hexing first years," the boy said angrily.

"Uh, hate to be the one to tell you this mate, but I think they got you," Sirius said, pointing to the boy's arm. And, sure enough, large boils were beginning to sprout up from his skin.

"Ahh! Get them off! Get them off!" the boy shouted, holding his arm in front of himself like it was contaminated.

"Calm down, maybe we can just squeeze them and they'll go away?" Sirius suggested.

"No!" the boy exclaimed, moving his arm away from Sirius.

"I swore I heard a counter-curse to this somewhere," James said, pulling his want out and scratching his head with it.

The boy was on the verge of tears and Sirius was eyeing the boils like he still thought squeezing them was a good idea, when Remus stood up and took out his wand. He tapped the boy's arm, muttered something under his breath, and the boils immediately cleared up.

The other three stared at him.

A blush spread across Remus's cheeks and he cleared his throat to break the silence.

"So, what's your name anyway?" he asked the boil boy.

"P-Peter Pettigrew," he answered. "Uh, thank you," he added and Remus shrugged.

"Stupid Slytherins, can't they at least wait till we get to the castle?" Sirius said, and Peter agreed by using a string of cuss words an eleven-year-old should definitely not know.

"Merlin I hope we're all in Gryffindor," James said, grinning at the three of them and they found they couldn't help but grin back.

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><p><strong>AN:** Reviews are like rain, long train trips and people with cool names; they inspire me to write more :)


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